


feverdreamless

by sinteresting_facts



Category: Original Work, World of Warcraft
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Insomnia, Nightmare Corruption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-27 03:52:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17759276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinteresting_facts/pseuds/sinteresting_facts
Summary: Where has Aatto been? He's been trying to sleep goddamnit.





	feverdreamless

**Author's Note:**

> Listen to Sleep by Hiimcase. Feverdreamless has always been one of my faves.

Aatto wasn’t exactly one to ‘sleep easy’. He spent his nights stargazing and his days working and gardening. He didn’t know when exactly he’d gotten into this routine, just that it’d stuck. He wasn’t a fighter, he didn’t need more than a handful of hours here and there sleeping. He’d been fine so far, and nobody had ever died on his watch (a watch which was, as with all his memories, patchy and unclear. He liked to believe that that was true—for all he knew it was.) 

 

That’d changed when he was corrupted. In the weeks following the attack he seemed drawn to sleeping, drawn to the warm pulsing embrace of the Nightmare. It’d taken awhile for him to stabilize and to be able to dream clearly once again. Whenever he wandered in the lush, dewy greenery of the Dream he felt at peace, but also scared. He didn’t know if or when the Nightmare would take him, and he would rather die than defile the Dream. 

 

Needless to say, he may have slept more but he didn’t sleep well. He mixed concoctions of all manner of roots and herbs, trying to get some sort of sleep tincture together. Nothing helped with the restlessness, and so he resorted to magic. He cast charm after charm, trying to find something that would give him relief. All he needed was a week. A week he could be comatose and sleep with no dreams, and then he’d be fine. For a medical professional he should’ve known better. 

 

He began falling asleep in inconvenient places: on top of trees, buildings; underneath bridges and archways. He fell asleep in the middle of a sentence, one time. It was beyond embarrassing, and so he set out once again to figure this shit out. 

 

He eventually landed on ‘quite literally getting someone to knock him out with a horse tranquilizer.’ A few gold changed hands with a kindly man in Old Town and Aatto was set up with a healthy supply of tranqs. 

 

That worked. That one even his body could not deny. 

 

What he gained in sleep, however, he lost in coordination. It was just barely a week of using his newfound method before he found he was having difficulties functioning. His limbs felt locked and tired, his mind seemed to operate at half-pace, and nothing felt quite centered in reality. That was more infuriating than the itch was.

 

So he burned the horse tranquilizers, standing far back from the flame.

 

He was back at square one, now battling the dull fear of the Nightmare and the threat of addiction. He took some time off from volunteering; he was in no position to help anyone like this. Aatto traveled to Northrend, finding himself wandering through Crystalsong forest and getting lost in it all. The cold didn’t help his sleeping but it did help clear his head. After a few quiet, frigid days of mediation, Aatto gave up the ascetic life and went home. 

 

Well, not  _ home _ , but home. He returned to Stormwind; the noise was almost welcoming. 

 

It was beyond frustrating, him trying and failing over and over to do himself some good. He’d lost pounds of weight and valuable work time while on his adventure to Sleep Soundly. As Aatto’s eyelids shuttered closed on the pillow of the tiny cot in his rented room, he decided to say fuck it once again. If he was meant to sleep, he would. He was too tired to even process that he’d shifted into his large and gangly worgen form. 

 

Exhaustion took him that morning, and he didn’t wake up for 2 and a half days. 

 

In a sleep-drunken stupor he awoke to soft moonlight coming in through the window, and while he was technically still alive, he felt dead. He rummaged around his bag and retrieved a package of herb roasted Lasher leaves, munching on them dutifully as his pale, cream-colored eyes watched the window. He carefully put the wrapping back in his bag when he was finished, and completed a few more tasks before going back to sleep. 

 

He didn’t know how long he slept, only that he awoke to a knocking sound on the door. He fell out of bed, graceful as a potato in a sack full of other potatoes, and eventually opened the door. 

 

“Mr. Moonshadow…?” 

 

“Doctor,” he mumbled. The way the woman looked up at him he could tell something was off. Ah. He was nine feet tall. That’s why he was stooped over. That’s why she was looking at him like that. He yawned, long jaws widening and showing rows of sharp white teeth.

 

“Sorry, um, sir, I’m Thelma Watersign, the cathedral’s advocacy programs noticed your absence beyond the requested time off and they were concerned? Is there any assistance that can be provided?” 

 

“How did you find me?” 

 

She blinked, looking down at a folded sheet of parchment in her hand. “Uhm, this was your given place of residence.” 

 

“Oh. That would explain it.” 

 

“Is….there anything else, Dr. Moonshadow?” 

 

“What day is it?” 

 

“Friday……have you been ill?” 

 

“Yes,” he said, offering no further information. “And what month?” 

 

She frowned and looked him over, taking in his bedraggled appearance. “Sir the program is here for its members as much as it is for the people we serve I can call for a priest—“ 

 

“—no—no, please, no priests. I’ve just. I’ve been.” he turned around, ears perking up. “I’ve just been sleeping.” 

 

_ He’d been sleeping!  _ Elune be fucking praised he finally slept for than three hours at a time.

 

“Sir you seem ill.” 

 

“I’ll be alright miss, Miss Watersign. Thank you for checking up on me.” 

 

She coughed, looking equal parts concerned and confused. “‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍When can we expect you back…….? This isn’t paid so we can’t really force you but you’ve been hugely helpful—“ 

 

“—just, a few more days, I’m sorry for the inconvenience.” 

 

“Doctor, you’re more than qualified for time off, uh—, but, if that’s all I won’t keep you. Please consider seeing a medical professional.” 

 

“I will, thank you Thelma, have a wonderful night.” 

 

“It’s morning, sir.” 

 

“Oh my. That it is. Thank you for the visit.” 

 

She nodded, and left, leaving Aatto to close the door behind her with a soft click. 

 

He fell back into bed, exhausted still, and curled up like a dog, nesting in the blankets and pillow. It was very, very comfortable.


End file.
